5 Uninvited Guests

"Nobody can be as agreeable as an uninvited guest." --Kin Hubbard

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When Roselle and her sister landed in the U.S. capital, it was as if they were transported into another dimension. The biggest city they've ever been in was a suburban one, but that was nothing compared to D.C.

They grabbed their luggages from the conveyor belt, and then rolled them out front. Roselle and Michelle looked out into the distance and at the surrounding area in shock.

"Woah," Michelle said. "Well, welcome to the nation's capital."

"It really is something else."

"Aren't ya glad we left home and came here?"

"I don't know! We've only been here for thirty minutes, and we haven't done what we need to do. So where are we headed?"

"Uhh . . ." Michelle scratched her head. "I don't know."

"WHAT?! YOU MEAN TO SAY YOU BROUGHT ME HERE AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A PLAN?"

She shrugged. "I figured we'd figure it out along the way."

"GRR!" Roselle grumbled. She took off her beanie, threw it on the ground, and jumped on it. "REMIND. ME. TO. NEVER. TRUST. YOU. EVER. AGAIN," she shouted on each jump.

"Yo, calm down," Michelle said. "How about first we internet search where Armani lives."

"You think we can really do an internet search for that?"

"Never underestimate my stalking skills."

Roselle was tapping her foot for ten minutes, not so patiently waiting for her sister to find something of use to their mission.

"Okay, I found something." Michelle finally said.

"Armani's house?"

"Couldn't find that. I'm guessing the secret service needs to keep that under wraps in case . . . you know . . . anyway, I couldn't find that, but I know where Lily Strobe lives."

"You wanna break into the house of the billionaire that's marrying the guy I want?!"

"I don't see why not."

"How can you be so calm?!"

"Look, I found her social media, and apparently she��s gonna be having a huge engagement party tonight. We show up and pretend we're guests or whatever, we find Armani, you tell him you want to give the relationship a shot, and boom. You live happily ever after and drive off into the sunset."

"I don't know. The more I dive into this, the crazier it gets."

"I mean, you're already here, so might as well, right?

* * *

The sisters took a taxi to the Strobe estate, and it was huge. Moreover, there were guards all across the entrances, which they hadn't foreseen. They approached the gate.

"Hi," Michelle greeted the guard. "We're here for Lily Strobe's engagement party."

The guards exchanged glances. "What's with the suitcases?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, what IS with the suitcases?" Roselle asked her sister, annoyed that they hadn't dropped them off at a hotel like she wanted before coming here.

"Thank heavens you're here." A maid walked up. "You two are from the Washington D.C. stylist team, right? Why are you late? Lily was supposed to have her hair and makeup done an hour ago."

The sisters looked at one another in awe, then back at the maid. "Sorry," Michelle said. "We misread the time and--"

"Just stop. Follow me."

The girls did as told, and followed the woman through the gate into the mansion.

"Nice work getting us as Lily's hair and makeup team," Roselle whispered.

"This is pure luck actually. I had nothing to do with this," Lily whispered back. "Just roll with it."

* * *

The Reyes sisters entered a dressing room within the mansion, where an aggravated Lily Strobe waited, pouting. "It's about time you showed up," she said. "I heard you were the best stylists in D.C. and I was even considering having you do my wedding makeup, but with this kind of tardiness, I don't think I will."

Roselle rolled her eyes, and it wasn't discreet in the slightest. She locked eyes at Lily, mugging her, and Lily did the same. "My deepest apologies," she said, refined with attitude.

Michelle flicked her.

"Ow!"

"I'm so sorry about her. She's been through a lot lately."

Lily sighed. "Whatever. Just get started. My party is soon."

The sisters took out their equipment and went to work in the beautification of Lily.

"You've got really soft skin," Michelle commented as she was applying makeup to Lily's face.

"Thanks," she responded.

"And really long hair," Roselle added.

"Thanks again."

"Oh, it wasn't a compliment. It was just an observation. Hair this long is a safety hazard." She finished combing it through and began the process of fishtail braiding it. "It'd be a shame if something happened to you because it got caught in something."

Michelle glared at her sister and mouthed 'quit it'. Roselle shrugged back at her.

"So," Michelle said, applying blush. "You're marrying the youngest elected president of the United States, huh? Must be pretty exciting."

"It is!" Lily squealed. "It was really sudden, ya know? But I agreed. I would make a bangin' hot first lady. And look at this ring!" She put her hand in the air to showcase her hand.

"That's the same ring . . ." Roselle said, examining it. 'That he used to propose to me', she finished saying in her head.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Lily asked.

"So tell me, Lily," Roselle finished the braid and tied it. "Do you love him?" She applied hairspray and smoothed the stray hairs over.

"I mean, yeah . . ." Lily said, not sounding very sure of herself.

The maid popped into the room. "Ms. Strobe!" the old woman exclaimed. "The real Washington D.C. stylists are here. "These two are imposters!"

"What?"

The sisters exchanged glances with one another, and both nodded. They threw their things into their backpacks and ran away with their luggages.

"Wait!" Lily shouted, running after them.

Roselle, still running, turned to see Lily gaining on them quickly. "HOW IS SHE SO FAST?"

"She doesn't have luggage!" Michelle yelled, looking back at her too.

The girls kept looking back in concern, but they smacked into something, which halted them. Just as they were about to run through the mansion doors, the door opened and hit Michelle on the head, throwing her on the ground. Roselle fell onto the person who was opening the door: Armani Parker.

"Roselle?" Armani said, widening his eyes while pinned to the ground. "What are you doing here?"

"I . . . I came to do Lily's hair."

"Oh . . . Cool."

The two stared at each other in silence for a bit. The awkward tension was off the charts.

"So, Ro," Armani finally said. "I want to ask you something, if it's alright with you."

"Yes?"

"Can you get off me please?"

"Oh, right!" She scrambled to get off of him and dusted herself off.

"Wait, you know this girl?" asked Lily.

Armani rubbed the back of his neck. "Uhh, yeah. She's a friend of mine." He turned to Roselle. "So why are you here?"

She looked at Armani, who was patiently waiting for an answer, at Lily, who was throwing daggers with her eyes, and at Michelle, who shrugged. "I don't know," she said, exasperated.

"These two are criminals!" the maid protested. "They dare waltz in here uninvited and assume the identities of the finest beauty team in the capital? You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You both ought to go to prison!" She turned to Lily. "Or we can let the guys in the back handle them," she whispered loudly.

Lily shook her head. "Even if they snuck into our house, they're friends of the president. The D.C. stylist team took forever to get here, and they did an amazing job." She stood in thought, but then an imaginary lightbulb visibly lit over her head. "I know! You guys are fans, right? And you saw my tweet about how annoyed I was having to wait for my beauty team, so you thought this could be your opportunity to meet me."

"Are you kidding?" Roselle asked. "I'm not--"

"You caught us," Michelle stepped in. "We're huge fans. Right, sis?" She glared at her sister as if to say 'you better go along with this'.

She knew she had no choice but to swallow her pride. "Yes," she said in defeat. "Huge fans. The biggest."

Lily smirked in satisfaction. "You two can attend the engagement party tonight."

"WHAT?!" Roselle, the maid, and Armani said at the same time.

"And you guys can also do my hair and makeup for my wedding. I can tell you two are experienced indie beauticians. I'll even tweet you guys, and maybe it'll help your business take off."

"Oh my gosh!" Michelle exclaimed. "That would be huge for us!"

Even with the animosity Roselle had for Lily, she did have to admit that it would be a huge leap for her and her sister's business if they did the hair and makeup for the heiress. Once again, she swallowed her pride and forced herself to smile at Lily. "Thank you so much for your kindness," she managed to muster.

"Ro, can I talk to you in private for a minute?" Armani asked.